Freehold of Kirkwall
by Legal Assasin
Summary: There is no going back to your old life. Whether it is taken by something wearing your face or lost to time and memory. All you can do is make a new one. Dragon Age 2xChangeling: The Lost crossover


**Title: **"Freehold of Kirkwall"  
><strong>Author: <strong>Legal Assasin  
><strong>Summary: <strong>There is no going back to your old life. Whether it is taken by something wearing your face or lost to time and memory. All you can do is make a new one.  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>None  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>If I owned Dragon Age or Changeling: The Lost, I wouldn't need to write fanfiction.  
><strong>Before I begin…<strong>A DA2 kink meme prompt asked for a crossover with World of Darkness. While the OP was leaning towards Geist: The Sin-Eater, I was more familiar with Changeling and-in fact-I had been batting around a few ideas.

More afterwards.

_**==+O+==**_

**Loss**

Aveline watches as Wesley and the Not-Aveline share dinner together.

She feels like an intruder, which is completely absurd considering it should be her inside the house and not the being wearing her face. She should never have been taken by that Hag, who beat her within an inch of her life every time she made even the slightest mistake or for another fellow captive whom she knew wouldn't be able to handle the harsh abuse (this surprised her Keeper, as well as amused her…it…whatever they were). She should never have changed with every blow inflicted on her body, making her skin hard as stone from callous and muscle. Making her less of what she used to be and more…something else.

It was a memory of Wesley that helped her back through the thorns. Of a time when she was happy, when she was sure she didn't need anything else to be content. Before one of the officers she was responsible for-one of the men she couldn't help but feel as though they were her own family-was fatally shot before her eyes. Before, still dwelling on the tragedy, she took up the strange woman-thing's offer to become stronger. To protect those who mattered to her.

And yet the world has moved on without her.

Would she be able to take back her life if she killed the imposter? The thought crosses her mind, but Aveline must push it aside. It would do no good; even if Wesley didn't see the large, fanged monstrosity his wife had become, years had passed for him as months had passed for her. The Not-Aveline fits more into her old life than she herself could ever hope to.

They're both happy, at least. Or look like they are. What should be a small comfort is a sharp pain in her chest.

With a heavy heart, Aveline turns away from the man she loves and begins her search for something to make out of her life now.

**Duality**

Anders sometimes wonders if there is something else behind his otherwise normal life.

Then he quickly dismisses it; he's been watching too many conspiracy thrillers. Nothing new in the life of Andrew Meyers, snarky medical student currently studying in Harvard and known lady's man. Although he prefers just Anders; no need for long, formal names, thank you very much. That, and to graduate soon so he won't have to deal with his teachers' long, boring lectures, get a job at a clinic or a hospital where he'll actually be able to do something instead of get carpal tunnel from writing so much, and possibly meet a pretty girl along the way.

Nope, nothing odd there.

Well…except for that one time years ago when he was kidnapped by a lunatic and managed to escape. And sometimes, when things seem to be getting out of his comfort zone, he can almost hear a voice in his head, guiding him. Sometimes he blacks out and it's taken care of and he can go on with life.

Still, Anders thinks while trying to figure out what to type next to finish up this damn thesis, nothing too odd.

Justice watches the Tunnelgrub burn to death without an ounce of remorse.

The rest of his motley-especially Isabela and their human ally Varric-find his choice of a name strange. But he can't think of anything more fitting; justice is what he seeks both for himself and every other man, woman, and child who was dragged through the thorns to serve the True Fae's whims and for anyone who may be. Justice is what drives him to hunt down any Changeling who has turned on their own kind and humanity, capturing both Lost and mortals alike to please the Gentry. Justice is what helped put the pieces of his life together after he emerged from the Hedge; that, and the personality called Anders which deals with the rest of humanity.

So Justice is the name he uses.

The Tunnelgrub has stopped squirming and screaming. Like Justice, flames cover the Privateer's body. But unlike Justice, who remains untouched by the cold blue flames flickering about him, the corpse turns black from the heat. Soon, it will be nothing more than ashes.

The very thought doesn't disturb Justice in the least. It's his lack of a reaction that does. Sometimes, he wonders if his seemingly endless quest to free his fellow Lost from the Others and their pawns is consuming him like the fire does the now black shape. That one day, his own zeal will brand him an enemy among the very people he is trying to protect.

Still, Justice decides as he walks away from the burnt husk, he must do what he can.

**Curiosity**

Merrill was taken because she was curious.

It is a moment she remembers vividly; of going into the attic of that old house no one dared to approach because it was supposedly haunted. Of searching dusty rooms and spider-infested cupboards (She briefly wondered why spiders would make their webs there; they certainly aren't going to catch flies when they can't get through the door. Or how they got in there in the first place. Maybe a careless person shut them in there without leaving and just forgot about them?) until she reached a treasure hoard; an attic full of books. Of turning the pages with excitement, reading words she couldn't really understand but knew there was something important behind them.

Then the flashlight she brought went out and when it went back on she was gone.

The Wise Old Man who took her didn't like someone going through his things, you see. So he decided to punish the thief by making her into his librarian, forcing her to write down things humanity was never meant to know by candlelight. Every now and then, Merrill would hear a noise in the dark; the sound of something slithering on the floorboards, bones crunching, trees creaking, and the moan of something she thought it best not to investigate. Or, perhaps she was simply too enraptured by the text she scratched onto the aged parchment with a ratty quill. It was knowledge that was terrifying because her mind couldn't comprehend it, but at the same time it is wondrous because of the possibilities if she could.

It is this knowledge Merrill takes with her when she finally escaped that dark library.

And yet, she sometimes feels pangs of loneliness. Other Changelings regard her with suspicion because of what she knows and the amount of time she spends in the Goblin Market looking for any Contract that could help her. Even her fellow Autumn Courtiers are uneasy about her, wondering-if the price was right-if she may trade them for secrets she craves.

But Merrill knows it will only be her paying what price is needed. No one else. Never anyone else.

**Summer**

Fenris winces as the willow woman-as he calls her-dabs antiseptic on one of his wounds.

The thorns weren't merciful when he fled through them, following the one fragment of his life before he could remember. Of being betrayed by a woman-Hadriana, he remembers her name-the pain of that betrayal incomparable to that which followed as he was dragged through the Hedge.

Nor what happened to him when he was brought to Arcadia.

Whatever his reasons, the Sanguine Lord decided to experiment on his new slave. A mixture of Glamour and some ore-not iron, for the Fae wasn't foolish enough to give one of his drudges the means to kill him-was embedded in Fenris's skin. The agony was one part of his durance he could remember clearly. That and his Keeper's lack of expression, like a child burning ants.

The willow woman, who calls herself Lyna, asks for his name and is surprised when he answers. _"Fenris? Odd name…you don't look wolfish." _Maybe not, but it was a name bestowed on him due to his ferocity as a soldier. He vaguely remembers his Keeper once commenting that perhaps he should've turned Fenris into a wolf to suit his nature ("Oh well..nothing we can do about that now, I suppose." He would say afterwards).

Lyna talks about the freehold and the Courts as she continues to treat Fenris. One part in particular catches his attention; the Summer Court. _"They're the ones who'll most likely be in the front lines if the Others decided to attack. Personally I think they really need to live a little, but if that's what they want there's no talking them out of it."_ It stays with him even after Lyna leaves, telling him that he's welcome to stay in the Freehold until he recovered.

Two months later, after the grueling initiation tests, Fenris is among kin.

**Glamour**

Isabela doesn't see a point in moping.

Okay, so the time she spent in Arcadia was bad. Well…really bad; her sleep was plagued by dreams which varied from what could best be described as a wet dream to horrifying nightmares. And she definitely didn't want to go back.

Still, the past was the past.

The music inside the club is too heavy on the bass for her liking, but she would take this music over anything Fae; even though it was more beautiful than anything mortals could ever hope to create, the vague memories of being forced to dance to it are ones she'd not like to dwell on.

Nearby, she spots a woman that looks like a ball-jointed doll with tears frozen on her face and snorts in disgust. Isabela can never understand why people think she belongs with the Duchy of the Icebound Heart. Sure she broke a few hearts here and there, but those were people who didn't get that she would never be tied down. Unlike the Dukes and Duchesses, she made it clear that she was looking for a night of fun and nothing else. No backstabbing (unless things turned ugly; in which case, it's literal), no manipulating others; she did some things people like Aveline would call despicable, but those were below even her. Besides, if she wanted to hang around funerals for Glamour or hide away from the Fae like a rabbit from a fox, she would never have joined the Spring Court.

Which reminds her of the reason she's here; she needs Glamour for the upcoming mission Hawke wants her part of.

Isabela smiles coyly at the man who offers to buy her a drink. They would have a bit of small talk while one of them-usually Isabela first-would suggest they find somewhere private. If all went well, he'd get laid, she'd get Glamour and-if she is lucky-a good time.

Both parties get what they want.

**Leap**

Hawke finds the gravestone right where he knew it would be; right by his father's.

_Garrett Hawkins. 1985-2009. Beloved son and brother._

If he were to dig up the grave and open the coffin, what would he find? A decaying corpse or a pile of junk that once resembled what he once looked like? Not that he was going to find out; he'd seen enough already.

"_How dare you make light of my son's death? Claiming to be him! Leave now before I call the police!"_

His mother's words echo in his mind. He knows; try as he may, he could never convince his mother, Carver, or Bethany that it was really him who was the boy they lost and not the imposter six feet below carrying a name that never belonged to them.

And yet it was the prospect of reuniting with them which helped him come to his senses long enough. Which reminded him even when all that occupied his mind was flight and scouting for the Huntsman what was waiting for him outside Faerie. Which helped him fight his way back through the thorns towards home.

It was irony. And agony; even a knife of cold iron couldn't hurt him anymore than this.

But Hawke refuses to dwell on it. Even if his old life is gone, he can start anew. And police be damned, he'll watch over the people he loves no matter how much they hate him.

He takes the leap.

**Sight**

Varric later admits he wasn't completely sure what he was getting into.

Sure he trusted Hawke; the only one he could say he trusted more was Bianca and only because a crossbow doesn't stab you in the back unless someone else handled it (and no one else would ever even touch Bianca as long as he breathed). And yes, Hawke did need his help. But he should've paid attention to the alarm bells in his head when a Pledge is mentioned.

Then it's too late and his eyes are open.

Hawke's hair is replaced with feathers ranging from black to brown. His features are sharper, as are his eyes. Like a hawk's.

Merrill's eyes are larger than before, and this time when Varric touches her hand it feels like aged parchment. The dark circles under her eyes are prominent and she seems so thin she'll fade away.

Anders-or Justice, as everyone calls him-has blue fire blazing all about him, even in his eyes. And yet he remains unharmed and unperturbed.

Isabela looks-for lack of a better word-utterly gorgeous. Her slender yet toned limbs always seem to be in motion even when she stands still.

Aveline is larger and covered with thick, rocky keloids. Her skin seems as hard as stone, if not more so.

Fenris's hair is lightened to white and there are lines on his face making him seem older. The white tattoos covering him seem to radiate light.

And they're the least conspicuous of the people he now sees.

Varric will still help Hawke and the others, of course, but there is still one thought going through his mind.

"_This is going to be one hell of a story."_

**Motley**

Their motley is far from perfect.

Aveline and Isabela bicker, mainly about Isabela's less than savory past time and Aveline being a prude and will she hurry up and tell that man-Donnic-where she wants him to touch her? ("That's not all there is to it, whore!")

Fenris makes his displeasure known clearly when Merrill hears of a cabal of Mages in the city and decides to speak with them. ("Of course; because they won't even think of asking you to take them beyond the Hedge.")

There are times Anders runs into them and has a brief moment of "do I know you?" before Justice takes over. And then they rarely see him unless he needs help clearing out a known gang of loyalists.

Hawke runs into trouble when his family finds out who's been watching over them. And he keeps persisting.

Those who remember their lives before their capture have moments when they look back and wonder what it would be like if they never went through the thorns. Others are secretly frustrated they don't have good memories of their old life.

Their motley is far from perfect.

But it will do.

_**==+O+==**_

Quick run-down of everyone!

Aveline; Ogre was the first Seeming that came to mind, but I thought about it for awhile before using it. As for her story, I decided to focus on the moment a changeling finds their Fetch and realizes there is no going back. This was one of the saddest parts of written.

Anders; I knew right away he was going to be one of those changelings who have multiple personalities-one human (Anders) and the other fae (Justice). To have a bit of fun, I gave Anders the personality he had in Awakening while Justice is him in DA2. Also decided to go with an Elemental Seeming because the image wouldn't leave my mind.

Merrill; This was one of the times I knew everything about their changeling persona right when I thought about them-Darkling antiquarian and part of the Autumn Court. Originally, I was going to focus on her capture, but I also wanted to get into her life after her escape. Especially her sense of isolation.

Fenris; "He's Summer Court" was the first thing that popped into my mind. Seeming was a bit harder; at first I thought about Beast to go with his name, but after re-watching scenes with him involved, I found that the Wizened Seeming-Soldier kith-fit his back story more (plus, Wizened tend to be really bitter about what happened to them, which fits his character). Story idea hasn't changed from the original, although I was going to start when he first came out of the Hedge and have him nearly attack Lyna.

Isabela; Fairest-Dancer. Spring Court. Yup, no changes from that. Although a friend thought she should've been a Duchess of the Icebound Heart-they go around breaking hearts and feeding off the sorrow and betrayal. But I see her as the type who just wants to have fun, which fits right in with the Spring Court's philosophy. Wanted to focus more on day-to-day changeling interactions with the rest of the world, including glamour collecting.

Hawke; Ended up going with a Beast Seeming to fit his name. But for story idea I was stuck until I remembered how important family is to Hawke; no matter how you play them, they're always protective of them. So I went with "what if they thought he was dead and didn't recognize him?" This was more depressing than Aveline's story.

Varric; No matter what I did, nothing fae would fit him. I briefly debated Wizened, but I couldn't see him as one. So I finally decided to make him a human who was ensorcelled. Kept Bianca, of course.

So yeah, that's about it.


End file.
